The message
from "Rachael of Nex, the Wiccan Rat" contains
these words:

A neighbour's house was guarded by a truly terrifying and downright
dangerous 11 stone Akita guard dog. It was fed meat taken from the
fridge by intruders, after they came in through a window.

How did they even get through the window if this Akita was so dangerous ?

They used a distraction method to keep the dog elsewhere.

Perh
aps your neighbor's unfortunate Akita was one of those dogs who don't really
want to hurt anyone, despite the posturing.

Nope. This dog was deadly.

Other
neighbours found their two dogs cowering under a bed shaking with
terror, hours after the raid. The use of dog-defying techniques was so
common among criminals in that area, that one of our friends whose house
was frequently burgled would never leave her bulldog alone in it in case
he got hurt or killed.


I'd move house if I were her -

She likes the one she's got.

or buy a weapon (wide ranging and not always
the obvious items) and lie in wait

She is a smallish elderly lady living alone in an isolated place,
where having a gun licence is, in itself, a high security risk because
criminals want guns. There's also the risk of a larger stronger man (or
men) taking any weapon off a woman and using it against her. I can think
of at least four women among my personal acquaintance, who insisted
their husband stop keeping guns because they (the women) had all been
targetted by criminals after the guns, while the men were out of the
way.

if I thought my dogs were in danger if left
alone in their own homes on a regular basis I would have to do something
about that.

She does; she takes the dog with her.

You must be aware you are talking about a fairly extreme situation with
regards to the burglary / dog problems - that sort of problem isn't the norm
for the UK.

I'm speaking from and of the UK;it's pretty common in central Scotland.

Most burglaries are still commited by opportunists who are
deterred by windows locks, deadlocks, burglar alarms, etc, good neighborhood
watch systems and large barking and snarling dogs.

You're speaking of urban circumstances. In rural Scotland, the police
decline "neighbourhood watch" status to very thinly populated areas.
Professional thieves target such areas and property because rural police
are so thinly spread the chances of being noticed or apprehended are
very small. Criminals can, and do, strip entire houses of every single
fixture and fitting, without being noticed. My friend's house (and the
Akita house) are both, at insurers' insistance after repeated attacks,
professionally alarmed to the hilt. They still get hit.


Janet.